At Davos 2026, Gita Gopinath was asked about India's GDP data methodology. Her response

India’s economy has delivered a stronger-than-expected performance, with real GDP growth accelerating to 7.8% in the April-June quarter of 2026-27, well above the Reserve Bank of India’s 7% estimate.

The data, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on August 31, has nevertheless triggered a fresh debate over India’s GDP methodology and whether changes in the statistical framework have made headline growth appear stronger.

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India had introduced a new GDP series with 2022-23 as the base year, along with updated data sources and methodological changes, including greater use of price indices and double deflation for manufacturing.

Earlier this year, speaking to India Today's Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai at Davos 2026, former IMF First Deputy Managing Director and Chief Economist Gita Gopinath shot down the concerns surrounding India’s GDP data methodology. She said that the C-grade should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that figures are unreliable.

"When I was chief economist of the IMF, we used to ask ourselves this question all the time, and the truth is, for pretty much most emerging and developing countries of the world they would get close to a C-grade on their national account statistics.”

Gopinath explained that such shortcomings are common across emerging economies because of limitations in producer price indices, deflation techniques and other statistical systems. Importantly, she said the IMF had not found any evidence that India’s GDP numbers were uniquely problematic compared with other countries.
“We didn't see any smoking gun evidence that there was something particularly bad about India's GDP numbers versus any other countries.”

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She further clarified that the IMF’s grades are an absolute assessment rather than a relative ranking. According to Gopinath, improving national accounts requires sustained investment in statistical capacity, and she noted that the IMF was working with India’s statistics authorities to strengthen data collection and methodology.
The latest GDP series attempts to address several of these concerns. MoSPI has expanded the number of price deflators and incorporated newer administrative and survey-based data, while the updated framework aims to better reflect structural changes in the economy.

At the same time, the 7.8% growth figure has surprised economists. Manufacturing expanded 9.2%, financial and related services grew 12.1%, while private investment and consumption also showed strength.